Infertile AF: Infertility and Modern Family Building through ART

Chloe Melas is an entertainment reporter for CNN, and today, she is getting realAF with Ali about her years-long infertility journey. They cover it all, including IUIs that didn’t take, the shock and heartbreak of IVF, a pregnancy “in an unknown location,” getting phone calls from doctors while on double dates, how it all affected her marriage (and her sex life!), and SO MUCH MORE.

Today’s ep is sponsored by FERTILITY RALLY—Community, Content and Curated Events at www.fertilityrally.com

Wes, aka Detour to Dad, who's been very vocal about the difficult journey that he and his wife, Amanda have traveled to have a baby—including a diagnosis of "extremely low sperm count" that made him feel "emasculated" and like he'd been punched in the face." Today, Wes tells his story, from when he and Amanda met playing softball, to making the decision to use donor sperm and how he came to terms with that—and what's happening with them now. 

EPISODE SPONSOR

Fertility Rally

Fertility Rally is the all-inclusive community for anyone who has gone through infertility, is going through infertility, or who are building modern families in “non-traditional” ways. The space is for anyone seeking support, information, inclusion, humor, kick ass virtual and IRL events, and fun discounts on the journey of infertility and parenthood. To start your Free 7-Day Trial or join now, go to fertilityrally.com.

Today, Ali is talking to artist Jasmine Katatikarn, a fertility warrior who struggled to have a child for six years. After multiple IUIs and her 2nd IVF, she was told that she had a less than 1% chance of having a baby and to stop trying. However, Jasmine didn’t give up. Jasmine tells Ali about the devastation she went through, how she and her husband had a hard time talking about what they were both going through, why finding community is so important, and how she applied her artist's mindset to take control of her fertility journey.

EPISODE SPONSOR:

*Fertility Rally*

Fertility Rally is the all-inclusive community for anyone who has gone through infertility, is going through infertility, or who are building modern families in “non-traditional” ways. The space is for anyone seeking support, information, inclusion, humor, kick ass virtual and IRL events, and fun discounts on the journey of infertility and parenthood. To start your Free 7-Day Trial or join now, go to fertilityrally.com.

Today, Ali is talking to HGTV Good Bones star and all-around badass Mina Starsiak Hawk about her fertility struggles, including why she skipped IUI and went straight to IVF, how she deals with comments from judgy (and handsy) women, and how she and her husband decided to show everything, including the messy parts, on their TV show. We also get a surprise guest cameo by her husband Steve, who jumps on the call to talk about how infertility affected their relationship. 

EPISODE SPONSORS: 

Fertility Rally

Fertility Rally is the all-inclusive community for anyone who has gone through infertility, is going through infertility, or who are building modern families in “non-traditional” ways. The space is for anyone seeking support, information, inclusion, humor, kick ass virtual and IRL events, and fun discounts on the journey of infertility and parenthood. To start your Free 7-Day Trial or join now, go to fertilityrally.com

Peanut

This episode is sponsored by Peanut, a social network for women. Peanut provides a community for women who are moms and who are hoping to be moms build friendships, find support and learn from one another. Download Peanut for free in the app store or click https://www.peanut-app.io/.

Monique Farook is a an infertility survivor, a former NICU Mom, a wife, and host of the podcast, "Infertility and Me." She and her husband began their journey to parenthood in 2012 when she was 29, and today, she tells Ali all about their long and bumpy road, from her unsuccessful IUI and uterine and cervical polyps to how she experienced prejudice at the fertility clinic. Monique also talks about why, when she started looking for people in the infertility community who looked like her, she couldn't find anyone—and how she felt when she finally had her son, who spent 129 days in the NICU. 

Episode Sponsors:

Fertility Rally

Fertility Rally is the all-inclusive community for anyone who has gone through infertility, is going through infertility, or who are building modern families in “non-traditional” ways. The space is for anyone seeking support, information, inclusion, humor, kick ass virtual and IRL events, and fun discounts on the journey of infertility and parenthood. To start your Free 7-Day Trial or join now, go to fertilityrally.com.

Care/Of

Care/of is a wellness brand that makes it easy to maintain your health goals with a customized vitamin plan that helps you feel your best today and supports you long-term. Care/of can make taking your vitamins and supporting your health goals attainable. Care/of is super transparent about the research and sourcing behind every one of their products with extensive info available on their website, and fun, informative content on their social pages. Care/of’s in-depth, 5-minute online quiz asks you questions about your diet, lifestyle, and health concerns to help address your specific wellness goals. For 50% off your first Care/of order, go to TakeCareOf.com and enter code INFERTILEAF50.

Today, Ali is talking to Emily about the ups and downs of her years-long infertility journey, including 7 IUIs (all unsuccessful), "always ending up on the wrong end of the statistics," "a dreadful sex life full of stress and dashed expectations," her five pregnancies, a string of miscarriages, and the night she went to the hospital and her doctor told her, 'You have to abort this tonight unless you wanna die." It's a dramatic tale, but it ends with Hope—in more ways than one. 

Episode Sponsor:

Fertility Rally

Fertility Rally is the all-inclusive community for anyone who has gone through infertility, is going through infertility, or who are building modern families in “non-traditional” ways. The space is for anyone seeking support, information, inclusion, humor, kick ass virtual and IRL events, and fun discounts on the journey of infertility and parenthood. To start your Free 7-Day Trial or join now, go to fertilityrally.com.

Today, Ali is talking to Ashley, a single mom by choice, who wanted to share her story to inspire others and shatter any stigmas about choosing to have and raise a child on one's own. Ashley, a successful executive who is raising her now 10-year-old son in Los Angeles, talks about how she felt like a "unicorn" at the fertility clinic, the unique process of of choosing a sperm donor (and why she asked her friends at one point, "Why wouldn't I choose the hot one?") and what happened when she tried for a second child. It's yet another example of someone building a modern family the way they want to create it--and we're thrilled to include her story here. 

Episode Sponsor: 

Fertility Rally

Fertility Rally is the all-inclusive community for anyone who has gone through infertility, is going through infertility, or who are building modern families in “non-traditional” ways. The space is for anyone seeking support, information, inclusion, humor, kick ass virtual and IRL events, and fun discounts on the journey of infertility and parenthood. To start your Free 7-Day Trial or join now, go to fertilityrally.com.

Michelle Buteau is a brilliant and real AF comedian, actress and host best known for appearing on Netflix's "The Circle" and in the movies "Isn't it Romantic" and "Always be My Maybe." She's also a fierce infertility and surrogacy advocate, who Ali first met in early 2020 when they were both in Albany, NY for Surrogacy Lobby Day. Today, Michelle tells Ali all about the long road to having her twins, Hazel and Otis, including IUIs, several rounds of IVF, four devastating miscarriages, prolactinoma (a noncancerous tumor of the pituitary gland) and why exploring international adoption didn't go how they'd planned. She also talks about facing discrimination at her doctor's appointments (and how, when her white husband was with her, she was treated completely differently)—and finally meeting the surrogate who would help them welcome their healthy babes. 

EPISODE SPONSORS: 

Fertility Rally

Fertility Rally is the all-inclusive community for anyone who has gone through infertility, is going through infertility, or who are building modern families in “non-traditional” ways. The space is for anyone seeking support, information, inclusion, humor, kick ass virtual and IRL events, and fun discounts on the journey of infertility and parenthood. To start your Free 7-Day Trial or join now, go to fertilityrally.com

Circle Surrogacy

On today's episode, we're partnering with Circle Surrogacy, which is celebrating 25 years of making parenthood possible for heterosexual and LGBTQ+ individuals and couples. Circle partners with their surrogates, intended parents and egg donors until they achieve success together. Learn more at circlesurrogacy.com or by emailing [email protected]

NYU Langone Fertility Center 

Join the thousands of families who've placed their trust in the experts at NYU Langone Fertility Center. When you're ready to explore your options, they're ready to help you build your family. For more information, check out their website fertilityny.org, Instagram @Fertility_NY, or call 212-263-8990.

Pacific Fertility Center

This episode, I'm partnering with Pacific Fertility Center, which is located in the San Francisco Bay Area has welcomed more than 10,000 babies through IVF, IUI and egg donation. For more info, check out IG: @pacificfertilitycenter, email [email protected] or call 415-834-3000

Flora Sinha is a Board Certified Internist practicing in Southern California, and today she's talking to Ali about going through secondary infertility. Although she didn't have trouble having her first child, she tried for six months to have her second child before realizing IVF was in her future. Then, after undergoing multiple rounds, she and her husband made the difficult decision to stop pursuing parenthood any further. Find out all about what she went through, how she ultimately made that decision, and what she tells her 4 1/2 year old daughter now about why she doesn't have any siblings.

Fertility Rally is the all-inclusive community for anyone who has gone through infertility, is going through infertility, or who are building modern families in “non-traditional” ways. The space is for anyone seeking support, information, inclusion, humor, kick ass virtual and IRL events, and fun discounts on the journey of infertility and parenthood. To start your Free 7-Day Trial or join now, go to fertilityrally.com

Emilia Bechrakis is a lawyer, a Manhattan mom and a television personality you probably recognize from the Bravo reality show, “ Million Dollar Listing New York, ” where she appears alongside her husband, real estate mogul Ryan Serhant. Today, she talks to Ali about falling in love with Ryan and getting married, and how when they started to try to have a baby, things didn’t exactly work out as planned. She also talks about her children’s book, “To the Moon and Back for You,” written after their daughter, Zena, was born via IVF. 

Fertility Rally is the all-inclusive community for anyone who has gone through infertility, is going through infertility, or who are building modern families in “non-traditional” ways. The space is for anyone seeking support, information, inclusion, humor, kick ass virtual and IRL events, and fun discounts on the journey of infertility and parenthood. To start your Free 7-Day Trial or join now, go to fertilityrally.com

This episode is sponsored by kegg, the first 2-in-1 fertility tracker that assesses the key sign to the fertile window: cervical fluid.  Go to www.kegg.tech and use promo code INFERTILEAF to get $20 off your intuitive fertility tracker.